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Halbert Astin
“Such a thing like normality cannot be found anywhere in a world dripping with conflicts and hypocrisy.” ''-Halbert talking to Bethan'' Halbert Astin is the protagonist of Origin: Zero and is introduced as a freelancer magus. A talented “magister killer” who becomes affiliated with Eden’s End Point Division and earns the title of “End point Executor” after ruthlessly slaughtering an entire village under the orders of the government. However, after being tossed as a test subject to select a suitable host for the cursed weapons and entering into an “overdrive” state, he resigns from his position and creates an orphanage. In NC 6035, Halbert becomes involved in the First Catastrophe after being blackmailed and captured by Eden’s End Point Division and is forced to rejoin their ranks, fighting against the Retaliation Union and contributing to the massacre of hundreds of people. After meeting Bethan, he finally escapes from the ranks of the military and forms his own independent fraction, supporting the Retaliation Union and effectively shortening the span of the war to 8 months. During Origin: Awakening, Halbert is briefly alluded as “The Great Equalizer of Azuria” and rumoured to be the strongest human to walk alive on Azuria. 'Profile' Background Halbert was brought up in a normal household within the richer sections of Eden. He spent most of his childhood normally, living in society, unaware of the military tension building up between the countries. Simplistic and basic ideals filled his mind, thinking that the side of the heroes will always be victorious. During this time, Halbert desired to become a magister, as the epitome of cool. The corrupt government within Eden lead to a period of depression where the poor had to commit crimes in order to survive. The lower-class civilians eventually began to riot and resorted to violence, leading to one of many internal conflicts within Eden, prior to the First Catastrophe. Within these conflicts, Halbert was left devastated after witnessing the murder of his family, only to be rescued by his godfather (Ariston Roy), a close friend of his parents. Prologue The death of his parents had changed Halbert’s attitude on life. He quickly became easily frustrated, irritated and depressed over the death of his family. His childish way of thinking leads him to believe that the cause of their deaths were the “bad” people who started the internal conflicts. Noticing this, Ariston adopts him and soothes his anger, acting as a substitute for the father he once had. Having become more attuned to his new life, Halbert uncovers the fact that Ariston is a magister, working as a mercenary to earn money for a living. Upon wishing to get stronger in order to exact “justice”, he asks Ariston to teach him the basics of becoming magister, however, he was rejected multiple times until he eventually gave in and taught him from scratch. Although Halbert was unable to produce spells, he learnt the theoretical side of magic, learning about transfiguration theories, the activation process and other mechanics related to magic and other knowledge relating to combat. Throughout the next five years, he underwent combat training and practised with several different types of weapons. To Halbert’s sadness, Ariston passes away due from a medical condition and passes on his legacy to Halbert, becoming a freelancer. Freelancer Astin Upon learning the political events taking place, the 17-year-old Halbert becomes a magister, hunting down criminals and people he believed that would ruin the people’s normal lives. As a result, his reputation rose, along with his experience and combat. At first, he was unable to complete all his assignments and was viewed as an amateur, but he quickly climbed the ranks within a few months, becoming infamous and feared, particularly for his assassination methods against well-proclaimed magisters. During one of his missions, Halbert was assigned, by the government, to assassinate a magister known as the “Charmer”, Andrew Davious, who amassed a small army of civilians and soldiers alike to rebel against the government. As all friendly negotiations had broken down; the risk of a civil war occurring became more apparent. Halbert was hesitant about the idea of slaughtering the innocent after comparing his own past to the current situation, however, realising that the casualties would increase if Andrew wasn’t stopped, he elected to single-handedly slaughter all 273 combatants that supported the civil war. This threw Halbert into disbelief as he began to question his own morals and beliefs; constantly questioning himself whether it was correct to preserve the normality of society at the cost of the deaths of more people. Despite this realisation, he carried on killing to save the people he could reach, eventually being branded as a “magister killer”, a title that was given to the most feared magister killers in the world. 'Post-First Catastrophe' Three years before the start of the First Catastrophe, Halbert is invited to join the ranks of Eden’s military to serve for the “greater good” of Azuria. Upon immediately accepting, he was placed in the End Point Division, a specialised group that was filled with talented individuals that acted independently from the main squadrons and “executed” any enemies in their path. Throughout the first few months of joining, Halbert is assigned several solo and group missions, often participating in assassinations or battles abroad. Despite lacking any magical capabilities, Halbert gained the alias of “End Point Executor”, feared for his assassination prowess and extensive knowledge of magic and spellcraft. Whilst working under the military, he and his acquaintances, who he became close friends with, were trained to endure the cursed weapons. Upon attempting to wield the actual cursed weapon itself, six of the nine candidates became overloaded with magic cells and entered into a state of conceptual death, at which point they were discarded of. Unaware of this, Halbert also tried out for the cursed weapon but was unable to utilise it due to his origin. Being seen as a defective product, Halbert was almost killed by the commander himself, which caused Halbert to enter an extremely rare state of “overdrive”, activating his origin code and killing his commander in an act of self-defence. After a few days of rest, he learnt the fact that he was in overdrive and as such, his cells were at an indefinite, invigorated state, slowing his ageing process. However, as a benefit, he was able to fully control his innate origin code. Having witnessed the corruption of Eden first-hand, he resigns his position from the military and decides to create an organisation, under the guise of an orphanage, with his close friends to help look after children who had also lost their families, alike Halbert. He quits his job as a freelancer and opens up a business as a private blacksmith, creating weapons and armours for close relatives and friends who he can trust. A few months before the start of the war, Halbert is, once again, scouted by the military to rejoin their ranks, guaranteeing protection and safety for his friends. Disgusted, Halbert declines the offer and is forcefully captured by the military, threatening to kill the orphanage if he doesn’t accept. Reluctantly, he rejoins the End Point Division, now known as the 13 END, fighting in the war as an independent unit. Despite his policy to save the greater good, his personal attachment to the orphanage throws his judgement in disarray, motivating him to kill for the sake of the children; at the same time, destroying his own ideas. 'Appearance' Throughout Origin: Zero, Halbert is seen wearing a black trench coat with a white, collared shirt and a red tie. His trousers are also coloured black with yellow stripes running down into his grey boots. His eyes are vacant. 'Personality' As a child, Halbert was extremely carefree and was greatly inspired by fictional heroes. The death of his household often haunts his dreams and is the trigger for Halbert’s drastic change. He quickly develops a more of a grumpy personality, getting quickly irritated and extremely impatient. Halbert is unable to forgive himself of his own weakness and strongly resents that only he was spared from death, as a result, he seeks to redeem himself by killing the people held responsible for the death of his family members; satisfying his own naive ideals at the same time. However, he begins to mature throughout his five years with Ariston. He teaches Halbert many different viewpoints, allowing him to build his knowledge and perspective on the world. Although Halbert still retains his desire for revenge, he quickly throws it away as he believes that ensuring that the majority live out their normal lives is much more important than taking vengeance. Despite his maturity, he still seeks to save as many people as possible, trying to keep casualties to a minimum to ensure that everyone survives, however after countless of failures, he begins to become more and more detached with his emotions, beginning to kill the few to save the many and failing to live up to his former ideals. Before the war, Halbert begins to experience strong emotions of attachment to the children at his orphanage, making him resign from his job and work as a blacksmith again, avoiding any bloodshed and danger that could harm the children. His strong attachment is also the reason for his breakdown as a character, as he begins to kill the majority to save the people that he holds dear; causing him to question where his morals lie and starts to feel guilt from the murders that he has committed. After his miraculous survival from the concentrated mana explosion, he witnesses the effects of his choice to destroy the Orb of Azuria and desperately searches for a survivor, despite retaining fatal wounds. Being able to find a single child and saving him from the debris of the destroyed city, Halbert collapses and finds peace within his own mind for all the countless of sins he has made and permanently resigns from fighting, living a peaceful life in Ultis and passes away 6 years after the war. 'Story' 'Origin: Zero' Despite retiring from the mercenary lifestyle, he worked under the End Point Division for most of the war, becoming widely feared as the “End Point Executor”. His skill was as well renowned as his reputation, operating in the front lines, solo, and assassinating the important figures and charismatic leaders, often winning them the battle. As he got closer to the capital of Ultis, he meets Bethan. At first, Halbert is ordered to kill her and proceeds to assassinate her, but upon witnessing her strength and combat ability, he on purposely loses and separates himself from the End Point Division; negotiating and talking with Bethan to come up with a plan to save the orphanage before returning back to base. However, once Bethan reaches the children, she discovers the truth behind the reason for the child experimentations and the war. Unable to turn a blind eye, she agrees to cooperate with the government of Eden. Unbeknownst to Halbert, the orphanage has been experimented and physically altered to suit cursed weapons. Seeing Halbert as a disposable pawn, the government orders Bethan to kill Halbert, however knowing his intentions and honest feelings, she drives him out of the base and refuses to kill him, only telling him to run. Halbert, confused, decides to retreat and runs rogue. Being cast away by his former organisation and known as a threat to the enemy side, he no longer has anywhere to run to. Instead, he takes a break by a nearby, rundown town; reminding him of his past and calming himself down, soon realising that the children must have been disposed of if he has been cast aside. His rage motivates him to finally fight once again, befriending individuals and creating his own independent fraction, supporting the Retaliation Union and begins to return to his roots; fighting to save the majority. A new organisation called Zero. Reaching the climax of the war, Halbert and Varpo, one of the remaining members of the 13 END, stand above the church’s basement, where the Orb of Azuria has been hidden away for thousands of years. After reaching, what seems to be, Halbert’s victory, the Orb of Azuria destroys the ceiling above itself, as the two fall down into an oblivion of mana and magic. Halbert soon wakes up, meeting the “persona” of the Orb of Azuria. It takes the shape of everyone he knows, before finally reflecting himself. Halbert wishes for a world where people could live their lives “normally”, where a world of magic doesn’t exist. However, unable to grant his wish, the orb suggests to change all of humanity into cursed beasts, so wars, sadness and pain wouldn’t exist. Realising that the Orb of Azuria has been corrupted, he rejects the orb entirely and shoots his “reflection”, causing Halbert to become cursed by the orb, losing his “overdrive” state, causing him to lose his ability and a large portion of his lifespan. Both Varpo and Halbert return to the floor, shocked by what they saw. However, Varpo commented on his decision and choice, saying that he made a poor, naive wish. Already knowing that Halbert points the gun at Varpo, killing him before leaving to find the physical vessel of the Orb of Azuria. Bethan and remaining member of the 13 END are seen fighting, Bethan is greatly cornered and is unable to fight back. However, Halbert appears in amidst the fighting. To Bethan’s demise, instead of helping her to get the Orb of Azuria, he uses a command crystal which forces her to unleash her limit break and to destroy the Orb of Azuria. To his miscalculation, the concentration of magic is so large, it only breaks the orb into seven pieces. However, the amount of magic released from the attack was so large, it destroys the entire city along with it. Halbert miraculously survives the explosion, but quickly succumbs to despair after seeing the damage he had caused, possibly killing thousands of innocent civilians. All that was left was a massive crater in the ground, with broken buildings and debris scattered over corpses. In complete despair, he runs around trying to find a survivor as an act of salvation. He finds a child, who is known to be Alban Wright’s father, and quickly saves him with the use of another relic. Later sending the child to an orphanage. Halbert retires from fighting and helps to rebuild the town that was destroyed by him, settling there and living the remaining 7 years of his life there. During the end of Origin: Zero, Halbert and Bethan can be seen talking outside, in the garden. She seems to have mellowed down, however, she still doesn’t forgive him for his actions; asking him for his reason to destroy the orb. Looking at the night sky, he reflects back onto Varpo’s final comment and comments on how naive and impossible his wish was, saying his last quote in the series. “To save something, you have to sacrifice something else; that’s just how this world works. Heartless and cruel. Such a thing like normality cannot be found anywhere in a world full of conflicts and hypocrisy. That’s why I decided to destroy the orb. That’s why… I decided to quit. For someone like me, it was impossible to achieve a miracle. Perhaps one day, the sins that I’ve committed may save someone in the future. That was the last hope I had left. My one hope, my own wish and my only salvation.” He finally comments on how beautiful, yet lonely the moon must be before walking away into his house, Bethan looking at his back. As the camera shifts to the moon, a young Alban Wright can be seen looking at the moon, before being called by his mother to go to sleep. Days later, Halbert dies from a natural death at the age of 29, passing all of his equipment and legacy to Bethan, hoping that she can find someone who can truly bring happiness to the world. 'Origin: Awakening' Although he dies before the events of Origin: Awakening, he is often mentioned as a historical figure - famous for ending the war. His actions left many questions and debates on whether his choice were right. However, his existence acts as the starting spark for the main character, Alban Wright, to strive to become a better magister. Despite having different ideals, he shares the same belief that without power, a person cannot save anything, beginning to adopt a battle style which is somewhat similar to Halbert. When Halbert understands the origins of the city that he lives in (the city that Halbert helped to rebuild), he is met by Bethan. Being reminded of Halbert, Bethan entrusts his weapons to Alban, before his departure to the epicentre of a singularity caused by the cursed beasts. At the centre of the singularity, the concentration of mana is so large that unnatural phenomenons begin to occur. During which, Alban temporarily witnesses Halbert’s life throughout Origin: Zero, soon realising that sometimes power alone won’t be enough to save the people he holds dear. This further motivates him to find Alice, maturing throughout his journey and begins to take less things for granted, whilst maintaining an optimistic view on life. He is also referenced by many other characters, being used as an example or as a comparison. Halbert is commonly known to be the strongest man know alive during his era; although Bethan greatly disagrees.